Viruses which could shake the world

MOSCOW, August 10 (RIA Novosti) - There are currently 10-15 life-threatening organisms and toxins that could be harnessed by terrorists and used as biological weapons, Russian scientist Anatoli Vorobev said in an article in the Gudok newspaper.

Vorobev, the president of the Russian Biotechnology Society, believes the most dangerous disease-causing organisms are the variola virus (causing smallpox) and the yerstina pestis bacterium (causing bubonic plague). Vorobev called for a new means of dealing with the potential development of biological weapons, special training for workers in zones affected by these diseases, and the creation of vaccine reserves.

Gudok reports that staff at the Novosibirsk Nuclear Physics Institute and the Irkutsk Limnological Institute have carried out successful tests for eliminating colonies of the bacteria that causes anthrax using an industrial neutron generator.